Invitation to Tea
by Geoduck
Summary: Kyoko and her daughter go shopping. A flash of orange hair catches Tohru's eye. Kyoko sees something more worrying.
1. A Dash against the Traffic

They made a strange pair walking down the sidewalk, the small girl dainty in a dress, scarf and coat, and the woman with reddish hair, wearing a denim jacket.

"Scallions!"

"Uh… pickled daikon."

The woman held a shopping bag folded under her arm, as the two continued on their errand.

"Right. Tofu!"

"Salmon."

She had the shopping list written out so she didn't _have _to try and memorize it, but this was more fun.

"No, Mama, we're getting yellowtail, not salmon."

"But I like salmon better."

"We had salmon two days ago. We're getting yellowtail today. Eggs."

"Miso."

"Which kind?"

"Uh, white miso?"

"Correct! And we should get some fruit, too."

"My little Tohru is so smart!"

"Tangerine…"

Kyoko realized in an instant that her daughter had stopped. "Did you want to get tangerines, baby?"

Tohru pointed to the sidewalk on the opposite side of the bridge they were crossing. "No. That boy. His hair… it looks like yours."

Kyoko looked. "Wow, you're right. And he looks like he's your age. Pretty bold to be dyeing his hair at…"

Kyoko looked at the woman standing next to the boy. For an instant, their eyes met.

"Tohru, I need you to wait right here. Promise me you won't move at all."

"I won't, Mama."

"I promise I'll come right back." With a quick glance to her right, she saw there was a gap in the traffic coming. A car went by, another car… She dashed into the road, waiting briefly as a bus passed by in the opposite direction. Then across the second lane, and she was at the other side. In another second, she was next to the woman and the boy.

"Oh geez…" She was breathing hard at the quick sprint. "...that was pretty stupid of me, huh? I coulda been killed. Hey, how are you doin? So, my little girl… over across the street, see? Hey, Tohru, wave! See? That's her. She's five. So anyway, my Tohru, she looked over here and she saw your son… he's your son, right? She saw his hair and my hair is a bit like it so I just had to come over and introduce myself. Oh, I'm Kyoko Honda. Oh wow, my pulse is really going. So hey, what's your name anyway? Me and Tohru, we were just going shopping for dinner. I wanted salmon, but Tohru says we gotta have yellowtail. Hey, you wanna come with us? Or maybe we can go shopping later, and just go and have a cup of tea right now. Our apartment's just a couple blocks away. So hey, what's your name? I'm Kyoko… oh wait, I guess I said that already."

"I'm… Sohma."

"Good to meet you, Sohma. So, why don't we go have that tea, now? There's a crosswalk half a block down. I should have crossed there, but, you know, I didn't want to miss you two, Tohru would have been heartbroken. Why don't we head on over there now? Hey, what's your boy's name? I'll bet he and Tohru are friends in no time."

The other woman reached down to hold his hand. "He...he doesn't talk to anyone but me. And he doesn't like to be touched. It's bad if anyone touches him. Please… don't. Don't touch him."

"Got you, I'll make certain Tohru doesn't touch him. She's such a well-behaved little girl. Don't know where she got it, definitely not her mom. So, hey, let's head on over to the crosswalk now, okay? I don't want to leave Tohru by herself over there much longer." She waved. "Be there in a second, sweetheart!"

"I… I can't. I…"

Kyoko linked her arm to the arm of the woman and got in close. So that the boy couldn't hear. "Please… just come with me. I promise that nothing good will happen if you stay here. I see… I've seen that look in your eyes. I… listen, don't ever tell anyone I told you this, but I've seen that look in my own eyes before. I stood on a bridge like this one. But… you know, tomorrow might be really great, right? And your boy… what's his name."

"He's… he's Kyo. My Kyo."

Kyoko laughed boisterously. "You're kidding me! Kyo? His hair _and _his name matches mine? Crazy!"

She lowered her voice again. "But Kyo, your Kyo, I think he'd be really upset if his mama did something to hurt herself. So come with us, kay? We'll have tea, and rice crackers, and we'll do the shopping tomorrow. We'll get some ready meals at the convenience store on the corner. Tohru will be super gentle with Kyo, and you and I can talk all night if we need to."

"I… I wouldn't want to trouble…"

Kyoko grinned. "What, trouble? That's not anything close to trouble." Her arm still linked with the other woman, Kyoko slowly started walking to the crosswalk. Sohma pulled Kyo along with her.

"Hey, Tohru? We're coming right over! Then we're going home, change of plans, sorry, sorry!"

"Okay, mama!" the girl yelled from across the street.

"Oh geez, she's too precious, she's going to straight up kill me with cuteness one of these days. Course, who am I talking to? Your boy is pretty damn cute too. I can't get over that hair! So cool. How dare he look so cool, right?"

They reached the crosswalk and waited for the light to change. Tohru was waiting at the other side. "Be there in a second, baby! Oh, she is going to be so happy to have company. I mean, I have friends from work over sometimes, but I can't remember the last time we had someone her age. But don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't bother him. She's very obedient, I promise."

"Thank… thank you."

"Nothing to it." The light changed, and the three crossed the road. "And, we made it! Tohru, these are my friends. This is Mrs. Sohma, and this handsome fella here is Kyo. He's a little sensitive, though, so you can't touch him, okay?"

"Okay, mama." Tohru bowed. "Pleased to meet you, ma'am."

"Isn't she the cutest though? Ah, she's so polite it hurts. So anyway, let's go home, and we can get some dinner on the way. You know, fried chicken sounds really good."

"Mama, we had fried chicken four nights ago. Get _gyoza _instead."

"Ugh, fine." Kyoko leaned in to the other woman. "We'll have some tea, have some dinner, the kids will play, we can talk, maybe have a beer, have a nice cry, complain a little bit. Because I think you wanna see what tomorrow is like, right? I know I do. I think tomorrow is gonna be really nice. So let's wait for it."

"I'll… yes."

"And anyway, until you've had a cup of Tohru's, you really haven't had tea."


	2. Cheap Beer

Mama had explained that Tohru was not allowed to touch Kyo, and that she had to be very gentle and quiet with him.

Tohru always tried to be a very good girl, so she did just what her Mama said.

But why didn't Kyo want to play? When Tohru showed him her doll, he didn't even look at it. He kept on looking down at the floor.

So Tohru decided to play a different game. Next to her dolls was a small box and some paper. She slid one sheet towards Kyo, and kept one for herself. She opened the box.

"Let's make pictures. What color crayon do you want?"

He took his eyes off the floor and looked over at her. "I'm going to start with blue," she pulled it from the box. "You can take any color you like."

* * *

"So my boss… get this! My boss says, 'I can't believe I just blew 3000 yen in there!'" Kyoko cracked up at her own story.

As she laughed, she looked over at Sohma. Haruka Sohma-she'd finally gotten her to open up enough to tell her her given name. Haruka was smiling nervously. An improvement-before she just looked nervous without the smile.

"Hey, you want a beer? I'm going to have one myself, since I don't have work tomorrow, and I'd feel bad drinking alone."

She turned her head back from looking over at her son on the other side of the room. "Oh, I haven't had a drink for several years. Not since before Kyo was born."

"Then it sounds like it's time you had one! Sure to help you relax."

"Ah, I'm not sure-I wouldn't want to get drunk with Kyo here."

"Whoa, sister! Not talking about that, just having one beer. I think I've got some _shochu _and sake, if they're more up your alley. No? Well just a minute." Kyoko got up and walked over to the apartment's small kitchen area. She fetched two pilsner glasses, and put them on the table. She pulled two beers from the refrigerator and brought them over. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her keys. Attached to the keyring was a bottle opener. "Handy piece of equipment, right?"

She popped open the beers, and poured one glass for Haruka, and one for herself. "So, drink as much of that or as little of that as you like. Or just keep the glass in front of you, if you prefer. I'm not going to pressure you. I just want you to have the option, 'kay?"

"Oh. Yes. Thank you." Haruka instinctively bobbed her head in a bow.

"Cheers!" Kyoko held her glass up, then took a sip. "Ah… cheap beer, the nectar of the gods. It brightens the eye, loosens the tongue, and warms the heart." She took another sip. "So, I've told you about my husband. What's the story with yours? What's he like?"

"Ah, he's a very handsome man. He earns a good living. He's a very hard worker."

"The kind who lives at his job?"

"He does work very long hours."

"And drinks with his work colleagues afterwards?"

"I think he may do that from time to time." She nervously looked over at her son again.

"I know that type. Probably never helps out at home, or with raising the boy, right?"

"I… I don't think I'd say that. I mean, he does work very hard, so he's tired when he gets home. And, I'm afraid that Kyo is grumpy with his father, so…"

"Hey, I've got a question, okay?" She lowered her voice a bit. "And it's just the two of us talking. I don't know your husband or any of your family and friends. You could tell me the craziest secrets of your life, and it wouldn't get out, because not only can I keep a secret, even if I couldn't, I wouldn't know anybody from your world to tell it to." She lowered her voice even more, so that the children on the other side of the room couldn't hear if. "Does he yell at you and your son? Or do anything worse? It's just us girls here." She reached out and put a hand on her arm. "You can tell me anything. I've heard just about everything before."

Haruka looked silently at her glass.

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. And if you want to wait and tell me later, that's cool, too."

"So let me tell you about my dad-he was a yeller. And looking back now, I was a bit of a brat back then. But… I also know that I didn't deserve that. He didn't have to yell at me. He could've asked questions. He could've listened. He didn't."

"So I wonder… who's listening to you, Haruka? Raising a kid is a lot of work. And even if your man is out so much of the time, he should still have the time to be able to listen to you, yeah?"

Kyoko took another sip. "So, I'll listen. I'm here for you, sis."

* * *

Having finished her sky, Tohru looked over at the crayons, to see what color to choose next. She saw Kyo's hand hovering over one of them. "Oh, you want the yellow one?"

In an instant he drew his hand back and looked to the floor again. "I'm sorry if I surprised you. Here." She pulled the yellow crayon out of the box and placed it on Kyo's paper. Then selected a brown crayon for herself and resumed drawing.

* * *

She started off so quietly, Kyoko could barely hear her. "I don't think he really wanted to be a father."

She paused a long time. Kyoko did not say a word, instead moving next to her at the table, and putting a hand on her back.

"We… I don't think either of us knew what it would be like. And it's hard, you know? I didn't have any brothers or sisters, so I was never around little kids. And my husband-he's the youngest in the family. And they're a rich family."

Kyoko slowly rubbed a circle on her back.

"And…" She looked over at his son to see if he was looking in her direction. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "And Kyo is not an easy child to raise. He's so sensitive to touch. I'm the only one he talks to. And I think he might be scared of his father."

Realizing what that sounded like she waved her hands in denial. "I'm not saying that he hits him or anything. But he is _brusque_. And sometimes he's a bit… loud. My son will run away when that happens. I wish he would be a little more gentle. Maybe Kyo would be happier."

Quietly, Kyoko asked, "how does he speak to you?"

"Oh, well, that's different. I do things that frustrate him, and I should know better. I'm an adult after all. I just wish he would be more gentle with our boy. He's still so young, and he's had so many problems in his life already. He can't really help how he acts."

There was a pause. Kyoko put her arm around Haruka's shoulder. "It's true that your son can't help how he acts. He's so innocent. He doesn't know better. He doesn't deserve to be treated roughly."

"But…" Kyoko's voice wavered for a second. "...listen, I feel like you should know that _you _don't deserve it either. If you do something that bugs him, he should talk to you about it in a normal voice. You don't deserve to be yelled at. He does yell at you, right?"

Haruka bowed her head down. "Yes."

Tears came to Kyoko's eyes. "Thank you for telling me. You're very brave. And you deserve to be able to complain. If he's being rough with you, you can't keep it all inside. Because then you'll start to feel like you deserve it. You _don't _deserve it. You're such a kind mother. You deserve better. Can you say that for me, sweetheart?"

"I… deserve better."

"Damn straight you do. You need to believe it. Because it's true."

* * *

Tohru held up her picture. "All done! Look, Kyo, I drew our house! And that's me and mama and you and your mama."

She looked over at Kyo's paper. He had quietly drawn a long yellow shape and put the crayon down. "Are you all done, too? Can I guess what it is?"

She considered the picture for a few moments. "Is it a duck?" He shook his head. "Is it a lion?" Another head shake. "It looks kind of like a rolled omelet."

Kyo shyly smiled. "Did I guess right? Is that what it is? You're good at drawing, Kyo."

She closed the box of crayons. "Want to see my animals? I can tell a story about them."

* * *

"It's _such _a rich family, and they're all _so _traditional." She took another drink of her beer. "And I think my husband thought I was going to be some kind of _yamato nadeshiko _and help him stand out in the family. But I disappointed him and Kyo disappointed him, and he doesn't make nearly as much money as some of his cousins do, so guess whose fault it is?"

She sighed. "But. What can I do? My Kyo has… special needs. There's help that only the family can give him. For his sake, I _have _to stay. And for anyone to leave the family? Well, I've never heard of it happening before."

Kyoko grimaced. "It's a crappy world for us women sometime, Haruka. I don't know if it's that men don't know what it's like for us, or that they _do _know but can't be bothered to do anything about it. I think I could count the number of decent men I've known in my life on one hand, and two of them are my husband and my father-in-law."

"Your husband sounded like he was a good man."

"He was. I mean, he was a complete smart-ass and he'd sometimes annoy me just for fun. I miss him so damn much."

"The one I miss is my father. I hope that Kyo grows up to be more like him than my husband."

"Your old man was good to you?"

"He didn't talk very much, and he usually had a stern look on his face, but he was always very kind. Before we were married, I thought my husband might be the same way, because he didn't talk much, either. I was wrong."

Kyoko held up her glass. "To the best men in our lives leaving us early."

Haruka brought up her glass, and set it down again. "No. **Kyo** is going to be the best man in my life. And he's going to be here for a long time."

"I'll drink to that!"

* * *

"...So when the twelve animals were having their party," Tohru held up a stuffed cat, "the cat came to the door. And she asked god if she could come in too, even though she was late. And all of the animals really liked the cat, so they asked god if the cat could stay too." She held up a small plastic rat. "And even the rat said she was sorry for tricking the cat. So, god said that the cat could stay, and she joined the party, and they all lived…"

A small hand reached out and held hers.

"Ah… Kyo? But I'm not supposed to touch… Mama? Mrs. Sohma?"

From across the room, the two women looked over.

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to… but Kyo touched me and I know I wasn't supposed to, and I'm sorry, but…"

"You didn't try to hug him, or anything?"

"No, ma'am. He just touched my hand."

Kyoko lightly touched Haruka's shoulder. "Will he be okay?"

She looked at the two children for awhile, then smiled slightly. "It should be fine. A tiny bit of touching like that is fine. It's just, when it's more than that that he really has problems. Ah, Tohru?"

"Y-yes, ma'am?"

"Don't worry, I'm not angry at you at all, you didn't do anything wrong. But do you know why he touched your hand? Was he scared or something?"

"I don't know, ma'am. I was showing him my animals and I was telling the zodiac story of the cat."

"Of the _cat_?"

Kyoko laughed. "Oh, there's an old story about the Chinese zodiac that Tohru loves. But she likes to change the ending so that the cat gets to go to the banquet after all. My little girl loves happy endings."

Haruka's eyes grew slightly misty. "I like happy endings too. I really do. Thank you for telling him such a nice story, Tohru. I promise you that he loves it." The little girl, slightly bewildered, nodded.

She suddenly looked at the window: it was quite dark outside. "Kyoko- what time is it?"

"Almost eight. Do you need… oh no, do you need to get home before your husband? I'm sorry, maybe I can phone a taxi for you."

"No. No! Please don't worry about that. He's out of town. He won't get back until tomorrow night. But still, we should get back soon. Kyo needs his rest. Kyo? We need to be going soon. Say goodbye to your friend."

Kyoko watched as Kyo looked down at the floor again. "Haruka? I'd like to be very selfish for a minute." Kyoko looked at her and smiled. "Stay the night here."

"What?"

"I never had slumber parties with my friends. Around the age that girls do that, I was sort of rough, and the friends I had didn't really go in for that kind of thing. So let's have one tonight. If you don't absolutely need to be home tonight, then sleep here tonight with Tohru and me. The kids can go to bed soon, and we can talk some more. I feel like you're the kind of person I could talk all night with. I've really taken to you and your son, Haruka. You're my kind of people, you know?"

Haruka flushed slightly and looked down. "That's very flattering of you to say. But we don't have our things-and I feel like we'd be putting you out."

"If you and Kyo don't mind sleeping on one futon, Tohru and I can share the other. I can loan you night clothes. I can even run down to the convenience store and get you toothbrushes."

* * *

In a matter of minutes, the end of the room had been converted to sleeping quarters. Futons, blankets and pillows had been set out. Tohru had changed into a white nightgown, while Kyo wore a pair of Tohru's pajamas that were baggy on his smaller frame.

"Geez-I'm a sucker for kids wearing clothes that are too big for them. Your son is going to murder me with cuteness, Haruka."

Smiling, Haruka tousled his hair. "He really is cute. He's my pride."

"I know what you mean. Tohru is the same for me. She's the best thing I've ever been a part of." Kyoko patted her on the shoulder. "We've got some damn good kids."

"Yeah."

The children were soon laid down in their beds, though it hardly seemed that Tohru would sleep anytime soon. She was thrumming with excitement at the novelty of a sleepover. Laying on her side, she giggled and waved at Kyo. "And tomorrow Mama and I can make breakfast-hey, do you want rolled omelet? We can make one, it's easy! And pancakes are really yummy. They're my favorite. And…"

"Tohru, pumpkin, you need to go to sleep first. You can't have breakfast without sleeping first, right?"

"No…"

"So you'd better go to sleep so you can have breakfast in the morning."

Tohru thought about that for a moment, and bowed down to the airtight logic of the argument. She closed her eyes and made exaggerating snoring noises.

"I'm living with a comedian, Haruka," Kyoko smiled as Tohru's fake snores dissolved into giggles. Kyoko went over and kissed Tohru on the forehead. "There's my magic spell. You will go to sleep now."

"I'm already asleep, Mama!"

"Good girl."

Haruka and Kyoko sat and watched their children for a few minutes. They had settled down and were either asleep, or would be soon.

"Kyoko?"

"Yeah?"

"I really appreciate you doing this. It's so hard not having anyone to talk to. In his family-I don't know if there's anyone there I can trust."

"Tonight, when you came up to me? I… I promise I wasn't going to do anything… permanent. Not with Kyo there. I could never."

"But I might have later. If I knew someone was taking care of him-I might have… you know."

Haruka looked at Kyoko and smiled. "I think you should know-just telling that to the wrong person could ruin me. They could take Kyo away from me. So I've told you that. And you know why?"

"Why?" asked Kyoko softly.

Haruka sniffled. "Because I've really taken to you, too. You're my kind of people." She reached out and gripped Kyoko's hand, who squeezed back.

"Hey, Haruka, I'm getting another beer. You want one too?"

"Yes, please."

"So I've got a package of dried squid around here somewhere. I'm thinking we can snack on some squid, have a beer, turn the radio on softly and listen to enka music, and then cry all night."

"That sounds absolutely perfect."


	3. How to Make Pancakes

When Kyo woke up, he couldn't see because there was something on his face. When he tried to brush the thing aside, he realized his hand was now a paw. He had changed in his sleep. He felt familiar vibrations next to him. Mama. He must have rolled into her and changed. It happened sometimes, but always at home before.

He tried to get out of his shirt, but ended up getting his tail stuck in the neck hole, and dragged it a meter before freeing himself.

"Mister cat?"

Kyo jumped up slightly at the sound. He turned around quickly to see the little girl smiling with bleary eyes. "Mister cat, you've come to visit?"

Kyo knew he wasn't supposed to change in front of other people. But maybe she didn't know _he _was the cat.

He remembered Mama telling him if other people saw him when he was a cat, he wasn't to change back when they could see. It was an important rule.

He looked at Mama, but she had turned over and was now laying on her front. He didn't know if he could hug her like that.

"Mister cat?" Tohru was holding her hands out.

She was a girl. If she hugged him, he wouldn't change back.

He padded over to her. She was sitting up on her futon, so he hopped into her lap. She gasped.

She petted his head softly with one hand, and ran another down his back and along his tail. He softly butted his head against her belly. She got the message and picked him up and held him close to her. "I'm so happy you're here. I wish you could live here forever."

Kyo was shocked. Did she really want him to stay?

"We're not allowed to keep you. It's against the building rules. But you can visit whenever you want, okay?"

She was holding him against her chest. He rubbed his head underneath her chin.

"Are you the cat who was tricked by the rat?"

Yes, he wanted to say.

"I don't want you to ever feel sad or scared. Because I love you."

Kyo felt himself vibrating.

"Oh! Is this purring? I don't think I ever heard a cat purr before. It feels nice." She thought a moment. "I should show you to Kyo."

Kyo tensed up. If she looked and didn't find him there, what would she think?

She yawned. "I'll introduce you to him in the morning when he wakes up. You'll stay, right?"

He nodded.

She lay back down, still holding him in her arms. "Then let's go back to sleep."

Once she closed her eyes, sleep came quickly, soothed by his purring.

Kyo was still awake, but decided to stay in her arms for a few minutes. He didn't want to wake her. He closed his eyes to wait.

* * *

He woke up with a start. He felt different. He lifted a paw and saw it was a hand again.

He looked around. He was between Tohru and Kyoko. This was dangerous. He didn't want to change yet again.

He got up carefully. It would be bad if they woke up.

The floor creaked a little bit. Kyoko's eyes opened. She looked at the alarm clock near her head, saw Kyo, and smiled. "Hey, kiddo. You're up early. Looking for the toilet?"

He shook his head.

"Is it too warm for you here? Is that why you took your clothes off?"

He looked down.

"Hey, don't worry. I can put the heat down a bit, but you need to get dressed. We don't want you getting a cold. Do you know where your clothes are?"

He nodded.

"Can you dress yourself?"

He nodded again.

She smiled. "Okay, then, go to it."

He carefully walked over to the other side of his mother and picked the clothes up. The underpants and pajama bottoms were easy to put on, but in the dim light, the pajama top was confusing. After a moment of struggling with it, Kyoko beckoned him over. She took the top from his hands and untangled it. "Now if I put this on you, I might end up touching you a tiny bit. Is that okay?"

After a second, he nodded.

"Okay, here goes. Arms up." He held them up. "Higher." He stretched himself as high as he possibly could.

With one quick motion, she brought the top down over him. His hands popped out of the sleeves, his head out of the neckhole. "Perfect. 10 out of 10, if I do say so myself."

She looked at him awhile. "You know, Kyo, your Mama loves you very much. I wish… I wish I had a little boy, too. So Tohru could have a little brother. If I had a little boy, I'd be so happy if he were just like you. I'd be over the moon. You're a treasure, you know that, kiddo? An absolute gem." She smiled at him. "Now get back to your Mama and go to sleep, okay kiddo?"

Kyo nodded and lay himself down next to his mother.

It was confusing for Kyo. A lot had happened in the past few hours. Mama had taken him 'outside.' They met Kyoko and Tohru and went to their house. Tohru played with him and told him the story about the cat. He and Mama spent the night there. And in the night, he changed. Tohru saw him, he changed back, and Kyoko had seen him.

He didn't _think _he broke any of the rules. Papa wouldn't yell at him, right? He hoped Papa wouldn't yell at Mama either.

Kyoko didn't yell. She was noisy sometimes, but always friendly. And Tohru was nice.

She liked the cat. She liked him. Kyoko liked him too.

He hoped they never found out about the other form.

Mama was the only one who loved the other form.

But Kyoko was a Mama. So, maybe.

Maybe…

Kyo fell asleep.

* * *

Haruka woke to the smell of food.

She had the momentary surprise of waking up in unfamiliar surroundings, until she remembered the previous evening.

She glanced to her side. Kyo wasn't there. She sat up and saw him kneeling on a chair near the stove. Haruka released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"Good morning, Mrs. Sohma!" Tohru, on another chair in front of the stove, waved a spatula.

"Good morning." She got up and walked over to the kitchen area. She leaned down and kissed Kyo on the temple. "Making pancakes?"

"Yep," Kyoko answered. "I pour 'em, Tohru flips 'em. She's good at it."

"I'm showing Kyo how. So, the bubbles come up, but it isn't ready to flip until the sides look a little dry. Like… now!" She slid the spatula under the cake and neatly flipped it over to let the other side cook.

"Another perfect flip!" Kyoko applauded, and Kyo mimicked her by softly putting his hands together.

Haruka smiled at the domestic scene. "My, you're a talented cook, Miss Tohru."

"Thank you!"

Just twenty-four hours ago, Haruka had been crying in her bed. She had started to resign herself to leaving the Sohma family in the only way that was open to her.

And now here they were, in a home of someone who had been a stranger just hours before. Someone who had taken them in, who had listened to her, encouraged her, given her hope. A friend.

Had she made friends with _anyone _since Kyo was born? Not really. They spent so much time indoors. "Too much time," she mumbled.

"Hmm? Don't tell me you need to leave already," Kyoko said.

"No, no. Sorry, my brain was miles away. We don't need to leave quite yet. In fact, if we got back too early, the gossips might see and know we were out all night. If we come back later, maybe they'll just assume they didn't see us leave." Haruka had become something of an expert of avoiding the attention of the thousand eyes of the family. Rumors seemed to be the Sohma family's leading product.

"You think ahead about things. That's smart."

"It's just a thing you have to do in this world sometimes."

"Mama? Pour another one?"

"Oh sure thing baby." She used a scraper to get the final bits of batter from the pitcher. "Last one. Then we'll eat, okay?"

"Yes!"

Haruka smiled. "Your Tohru is just precious. I wouldn't have thought Kyo would take to someone else so quickly."

"She is a special one, but I think you may be underestimating Kyo. I think he could probably make a lot of friends if he spent more time with other children."

Haruka looked down. "I know, you're right but… there are… circumstances."

"Look, I know you've been cagey about Kyo, and I'm sure you have legitimate reasons, I get that. I feel like you need to find someone that you can be totally open about his issues. And I'm not saying that I have to be that person, maybe there's someone else better suited for the job. But whatever happens, I'd like to be able to talk to you in the future. I'm someone you can let off steam to. And if you wanted, you could listen to me complain when I have problems, too."

"You're right. And I'm sorry I've been reluctant to talk about certain things. Maybe I'll be able to be more upfront in the future."

"Listen, just so we don't forget later, let's exchange phone numbers, okay?"

"Ah, certainly."

Kyoko left the kitchen area to fetch a battered address book next to the telephone, and opened to a blank page. "Why don't you write your number here?"

"Yes." Haruka took the proffered book and a pencil, wrote her name and telephone number, and handed them back. "It would be best not to call when my husband is home. It might cause problems. It would be okay to call during working hours during the week, until about 7pm or so. He rarely gets back earlier than that."

"Sure." Kyoko tore a page out of the book and wrote her name and number down. "And you keep this. Maybe it's less risky to you if you call me? Just don't leave me hanging, all right?"

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"Mama? Look at this."

Kyoko and Haruka turned around to see Kyo, standing on his chair, very carefully pick up the last pancake. "Okay, now flip it over." He turned the spatula over, and the pancake fell down on the pan, with a slight spatter of batter. "You did it!"

Kyo looked down at the attention, but he still smiled.

"So, are we ready for some breakfast?"

"Yes, Mama. I already set the table."

"Of course you did. Can you believe this child?"

"Kyoko? Thank you."

"No need for all that. All I did was run across the street."

"You can say that if you like, but… thank you. I don't know how I could ever repay you."

"There's no need. But if-you know I just thought of something. If you wanted to repay me, bring Kyo and spend a night with us again sometime."

"Yes. We'd really like that."

The last pancake plated, Tohru prepared to get over to the table, when she suddenly turned to Kyo. "Kyo? Did you just say something?"

That caught both adults' attention, and they watched the two children. Kyo looked down at the sudden attention.

Haruka spoke softly. "Kyo? Did you say something to Tohru?" The boy rapidly shook his head.

"Maybe you heard something else, baby."

"I thought it was him. I liked his voice. It was nice."

"Okay, but let's eat now, okay?"

"Yes!"

The four of them settled around the table. Kyoko served pancakes on each plate and helped cut Tohru's up. Haruka cut Kyo's into bite-sized pieces as well.

As his mother was helping him, Kyo looked across at Tohru. Nobody saw his lips move, nor did anyone hear the very quiet two syllables he spoke.

_"Neechan." _


End file.
